Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Verbs are the words in a
sentence that describe the action of a sentence or that introduce the condition
or state of someone or something in the sentence.

Action: Anna throws the
ball.

Introduction of a condition: Trent is very
sick.

There are many action verbs.
Those that can have a direct object are often called transitive verbs. Here
is a list of some commonly used transitive verbs. Note that they can be used
with a direct object.

Transitive Verbs Used in a Sentence

buy He
buys a newspaper.

carry I
am carrying the child.

find Can
you find the book?

help She
helps us.

like I
don’t like cabbage.

lose Don’t
lose your money.

read She
is reading a book.

pull The
dentist pulled the tooth.

push The
boy pushes the cart.

sell I
am selling my car.

speak Father
speaks Spanish.

write We
are writing some postcards.

understand Do you understand me?

Intransitive verbs are not followed by a
direct object. They often show a movement to a place and are sometimes followed
by a prepositional phrase. Following is a list of some commonly used intransitive
verbs:

Intransitive Verbs Used in a Sentence

come Can
you come to the party?

crawl The
baby crawls on the floor.

drive We
are driving fast.

fly I
flew here from Paris.

go Are
you going home?

hurry We
hurry to the window.

jump Peter
jumps from the roof.

ride I
am riding in his car.

run The
girls run past the school.

sail We
are sailing to Europe.

travel Do
you want to travel with us?

walk I
walk out of the theater.

Still other verbs introduce the
condition or state of someone or something. They do not take a direct object
and are most often followed by an adjective. These verbs are usually called linkingverbs. Here are some commonly used linking verbs:

Linking Verbs Used
in a Sentence

appear The
boy appears quite well.

be I
am hungry.

become The
weather becomes bad.

feel It
feels hot.

grow The
dog is growing weak.

look She
looks unhappy.

seem The
coat seems too small for you.

smell The
pizza smells good.

sound The
music sounds awful.

taste The
popcorn tastes salty.

Careful! Some of the linking verbs have
a second usage. They can be used as transitive verbs. Look at these examples:

You can identify linking verbs by
substituting am, is, or are for the verb. If the sentence
makes sense with the substitution, it is a linking verb. If it does not make
sense, it is a transitive verb. Some examples:

It
feels cold. (It is cold.) This makes sense. = Linking Verb

He
feels her pulse. (He is her pulse.) This makes no sense. =
Transitive Verb

They
smell nice. (They are nice.) This makes sense. = Linking Verb

We smell coffee.
(We are coffee.) This makes no sense. = Transitive Verb

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. The English
personal pronouns are:

Singular
Plural

First PersonI we

Second Personyou you

Third Personhe, she, it they

Notice that you is both singular and plural. When speaking
to one person, say you. When speaking to two or more persons, say you:

Tim, you are a very good student.

Bruno and Rene, you have to study more.

Just as nouns have gender, pronouns also do. I, we,
and you can be used by males or females. He is always masculine, she
is always feminine, and it is always neuter. The plural of the
third-person pronouns is always they, whether masculine, feminine, or
neuter. And just like nouns, pronouns can be used as:

the subject of a sentence

a direct object

an indirect object

But when used as a direct object or indirect object, some of the pronouns
change:

Subject Direct
Object Indirect Object

I me
me

you you
you

he him
him

she her
her

it it
it

we us us

you (plural) you
you

they them
them

If a pronoun replaces a noun in the sentence, it must have the same
characteristics as the noun: the same number (singular or plural), the same
gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and the same use in the sentence
(subject, direct object, or indirect object). Look at these examples where the
pronoun replaces the italicized noun:

Notice that the nouns and pronouns are in the third person. This
is true when a pronoun replaces a noun. But
when a noun or pronoun is combined with the first-person singular pronoun

I, it is replaced by the first-person plural pronoun we :

You and I have work to do. >>We have work
to do.

He helps the girls and me. >> He helps us.

When
you change a direct object noun to a direct object pronoun, you must add to
or for before
the indirect object noun or pronoun. The indirect object becomes the object of
the preposition to or
for. Place the prepositional phrase
after the direct object. For example:

I gave Jay a
book. >> I
gave it to
Jay.

We buy her flowers.
>> We
buy them for
her.

Nouns or pronouns can be used to
complete a prepositional phrase. That is a phrase made up of a
preposition and a noun or a pronoun. Here are some of the most commonly used
prepositions:

The English definite article is the. It is used to identify a particular person or thing. If you are speaking about someone or something you are already familiar with, you use the with the noun. Look at these examples:

I already know the man.

She met the women who won the lottery.

This is the book that I told you about.

The indefinite article is used to describe someone or something that is unfamiliar to you or about which you are speaking in general. There are two forms: a and an. Use a before a word beginning with a consonant. Use an before a word beginning with a vowel. Look at these examples:

He sees a stranger on the corner.

Did you buy an apple or an orange?

Is the woman a good lawyer?

She has an idea.

Compare the difference between the definite and indefinite article by using these sentences:

I want an apple. (I do not see an apple. But I feel hungry for one.)

I want the apple. (I am choosing between the apple and the orange that I see before me.)

The definite article for plural nouns is also the. But there is no indefinite article for plural nouns. The plural articles are used in the same way as the singular articles.

Nouns can be either proper or common. Proper nouns are those that refer to a particular person, place, thing, or idea. Such nouns are capitalized: America, George Washington, Mr. Neruda, October.

Nouns that do not refer to a particular person, place, thing, or idea are common nouns. They are not capitalized: land, girls, money, test.

Compare the following list of proper and common nouns:Proper Nouns Common Nouns
Mexico country
Ms. Finch woman
English language
McGraw-Hill publisher
American Airlines company
December month

Nouns can be used as the subject of a sentence. The subject is the word that is performing the action in the sentence. The subject can be a proper noun or a common noun, and it can be singular or plural:

Juanita is a friend of mine.

The boys like to play soccer.

Where is the school?

Nouns can also be used as direct objects. The direct object in a sentence is the noun that receives the action of the verb. To find the direct object in a sentence do three things:

Nouns are sometimes indirect objects. They stand before the direct object in the sentence. It is the
person to whom or for whom something is provided. To find the indirect object in a sentence do three things:

Find the subject of the sentence.

Find the verb in the sentence.

Ask to whom or for whom with the subject and the verb.

Look at these sample sentences:“Justin buys the girl a magazine.” “Mother gives Nate five dollars.”
1. subject = Justin 1. subject = Mother
2. verb = buys 2. verb = gives
3. ask to whom or for whom For 3. ask to whom or for whom To whom
whom does Justin buy a magazine? does Mother give five dollars?
The indirect object is girl. The indirect object is Nate.

Note: It is rare that something inanimate is used as an indirect object.

When a noun is used as a predicate noun, it follows the predicate in the sentence. The predicate can be a single verb or a verb phrase: